Eventually, and with a lot of cursing, Aya had made her way back to her apartment. Surprisingly, the cat had followed her all the way home. Poor thing was probably glad to see a friendly face. Unsurprisingly, she had forgotten to loot the rats. Then again, she didn’t really want anything that came from the body of a rat. If, and that was a pretty big if, the rats were still there when she went to check on the truck, she would consider looting them. Maybe. Her nose wrinkled in disgust for the thought alone.

‘You know, Kira.’ Aya started talking to the cat as she poured some water over her shin while sitting on the edge of her tub. ‘Some might say this outing was a failure. I mean, I did get munched on by a rat and needed to go back.’ The cat made its home on a pile of looted towels. ‘But I have to disagree with those pessimistic nay-sayers. Look at the facts. I singlehandedly killed 4 level 2 creatures, which netted me a decent amount of experience. Nothing came to investigate the noise, so the place is probably not crawling with monsters. I found a truck which may or may not work. I got to practice my magic on someone else. And most importantly, I got me a sidekick.’ During her speech, Kira started to purr loudly. Aya continued to pour water onto her wounds, emptying a few bottles. Hoarding pays off! She internally gloated. She was less proud of the fact that she, a nurse (well, almost), did not have an emergency kit in her home! Or maybe the System made it vanish… that sounds like a good excuse, she thought. So, water had to do the trick.

Eventually, she declared her leg clean enough and spent a few minutes healing her shin. She paid special attention to the process, trying to get a good feel of the way the spell worked. She could feel a gentle and warm glow suffusing her leg. No wonder the cat had been purring. Before she could gleam more details though, her shin was as good as new. Besides some new scars. ‘Fodder for tall tales’ she muttered to herself as she poked and prodded her shin. It really did feel like normal. Magic.

Afterwards, she made some lunch for herself and opened a can of tuna for Kira. Disgusting, but Kira gobbled it up in seconds. Healed, sated, and rested, Aya figured it was time. She was sure she could get the truck to work. After all, why would every other car disappear but this one didn’t? Under that belief, she started to stuff her backpack and trolley full. ‘Do I need all the food and water if the truck worked? No. do I foresee a different use? Also no. But would it be a waste to not take it with me? Yes. Besides, it’s still preferable to overprepare than to be underprepared.’.

She brought her bag and trolley into the lobby, Kira following faithfully. ‘I wonder if there is some taming or bonding skill or whatever.’ Aya muttered as she watched Kira for a moment. ‘That would be so cool.’ Se froze for a moment. ‘Speaking of animals…’. Aya dashed back up the stairs. ‘Can’t believe I almost forgot about you, little buddy’ she coed to the parakeet she had found during the search for useable. She draped a throw-blanket over the cage so the bird wouldn’t freak out too much. She also put a box of birdfeed on top of the cage before carefully picking it up. While she realized that she could just leave a window open as well as the cage, she doubted the bird knew how to survive.

After depositing the cage next to her trolley, giving Kira a stern talking to about leaving the bird alone, and checking to see if she still had her keys and tools in her pocket (check), she was finally good to go.

Aya stepped through the front door, making sure Kira couldn’t follow her. She didn’t feel like watching the cat. Besides, while it followed her so far, Aya doubted the cat truly understood what was going on. So she braved the silent, empty, creepy street on her own. She didn’t know if she should feel glad or scared by the fact that the bodies of the rats they fought had disappeared, leaving only bloodstains behind. However, she was relieved to note that the alley the rats came from appeared empty.

‘Just a little more luck like this, just for another hour or so’. She whispered as she reached the car without any trouble. Holding her breath, she tugged on the handle of the door. She froze as she heard the click of the door opening. ‘Bless you whoever you are, you fool. Who does not lock their car in a city like Seattle? Holy hell.’ She muttered as she slid into the driver’s seat and softly closed the door. ‘Luckily, or unluckily, you were smart enough to take the keys with you. No matter, I came prepared.’ She pulled out her trusty screwdriver from one of her pockets. ‘Let’s see if this works. Don’t fail me now, screwy.’

‘…Yeah, I definitely need someone to talk to now that I’m talking and giving nicknames to tools… Ah well.’.

Aya inserted the screwdriver, sighing in relief when it fit. ‘Step 1 completed. Now for the real deal…’ She gently turned the screwdriver and… LO AND BEHOLD. IT WORKED. Aya let out a squeal of joy as the engine started to rumble. ‘I think this is the sweetest sound I’ve every heard in my life.’ Aya sniffed while wiping away a tear. ‘Alright, I gotta focus though, before every critter in a mile’s radius comes to investigate the noise.’. putting action to her words, she shifted the truck into the right gear and drove to her apartment building. ‘Quickly, quickly, quickly’ she urged herself on as she hopped out of the truck, leaving it running. She opened the passenger door before opening the front door of the building. Kira greeted her with a happy meow and a headbutt. ‘Not now, Kira, time to scram.’. She quickly put her belongings in the car, including a disgruntled cat. Another glance around showed that the street was still empty, which helped ease the stressed feeling Aya had because of the noise of the car. Regardless, she hopped back into the truck just as quickly, locking the doors and (with moderation) pushed the pedal to the metal.

Soon, she was cruising down I-5, chuckling a little. In less than an hour, she would be home. She wasn’t overly concerned for her family. While yes, the world ended, but it’s the Woodstone family. She did feel a little silly, looking back at all the preparations she made. However, she didn’t regret it. Preparation was half the work, after all.

50 minutes later, she passed the silent streets of Granite Falls. Although she thought she saw some people scurrying around the sidestreets, she didn’t stop until she reached the end of a side road on Menzel Lake Road, just outside Granite Falls. She hopped out of the car with a huge smile, just as the front door opened and her uncle stepped through with a glare on his face and a rifle in his hands. However, his face soon changed to one of relief as he spotted Aya. ‘Yooohooo, I’m hoooome’ Aya announced in a singsong voice. Her uncle, Aldric, grinned as he pointed his gun to the ground. ‘Took you long enough, you bra…’

Ding!

His words were interrupted by a global announcement.

Congratulations, Earthlings.

You are among those who have survived thus far.

Rejoice as the Initialization process has truly finished. This means that, among others, monsters will now spawn, dungeons will appear, safe zones can be established, and the shop will be opened.

Rejoice, as now the true test of the strong will start. Will you prevail or will you end up as fuel for your betters? May luck never be in your favour.

Aya and Aldric looked at each other before simultaneously saying ‘Fuck.’. It seemed like the end of the world only truly started from this point onwards.